Actinic Keratosis

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An actinic keratosis is a rough, scaly patch on your skin that develops from years of exposure to the sun. It's most commonly found on your face, lips, ears, back of your hands, forearms, scalp or neck. Also known as solar keratosis, an actinic keratosis enlarges slowly and usually causes no signs or symptoms other than a patch or small spot on your skin.

Over time, actinic keratoses may develop into invasive squamous cell carcinoma; according to one study of almost 7000 patients, among the small percentage of actinic keratoses that progress into squamous cell carcinoma, the length of time for this transformation to occur was approximately 2 years.

We determined the incidence of actinic keratosis (AK) among Japanese by screening for skin cancer in Kasai City, Hyogo, Japan, between 1993 and 1995. The incidence per 100â��000 Japanese residents was 223.6 in 1993 and 171.2 in 1994. The prevalence of AK was 291.2 per 100â��000 residents in 1993, 203.7 in 1994, and 86.8 in 1995.